The Hair

So, we have been experimenting with Judah's hair in recent months.  After his last haircut, we decided to let it grow out to more of a medium length "surfer"-type look...something along these lines:

Judah has some great hair.  It's nice and thick, but he has a cowlick in the back that tends to stick up all the time with shorter haircuts so we thought we would try this route.  We are still in the growing out process, and there are days that I have to fight the urge to drive him right to the salon for a haircut, but I am determined to stick with it at least until the spring to see if I like it.  So, here we are so far....warning: cuteness alert!

There's that laugh!

Being silly...

    

His hair was recently washed in these pics, so it's tame and in place, but I should take a comparison picture from when he wakes up in the morning. :)  On another note, I just think he is the cutest almost 4-year-old!          

21 Months

I wanted to write a quick post on Eden at 21 months, since these months are flying by!  I can hardly believe that she is well on her way to 2.  Eden continues to be such a joy and brings a smile to our face constantly.  She is very expressive and her vocabulary is expanding at a fast pace!  She can say so many more words than she could at 18 months (three months can really make a difference).  Her vocabulary has expanded to include words like: show, toot, all done, up, down, potty, pee pee, baby, choo choo, shoes, hat, socks, open (or "ope"), please, teeth, toes, nose, keys, bite, show, Bible, juice, help, book, brush, phone, ball, hoop, apple, orange and tatoo (or "tat"...don't ask) to name a few. :)  She can also put two words together like "uh-oh, mama", "bye bye daddy", etc.  She understands just about everything that we say to her, although I would have said this about for a while now.  We are always amazed at everything she knows and understands. 

Book reading continues to be a favorite activity.  She also loves babies and animals, and she squeels with delight when she sees either one and likes to give them kisses.  She likes those jumbo/chunky toddler puzzles and can do them without any help.  She loves running around the house with her brother and laughing with delight as he chases her.  She also loves baths (and water in general) and likes playing with pretend food.  At 21 months, Eden is potty trained (yay!), although sometimes accidents still happen if she is distracted and playing.  She does well if I remember to ask her periodically if she has to go potty, although she will tell me when she has to go most of the time.

Eden naps once a day in the afternoon.  She is a pretty good eater, although she can be pickier like her brother.  She likes most kid-type food, but is less likely to eat something that I make for the family for dinner.  She doesn't seem to be as much into sweets as her brother.  Eden likes fruit of all kinds, yogurt, pancakes, cheese, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, cottage cheese, and she really likes when daddy gets her a pumpkin muffin from Panera every once in a while.   

Takin' a bath, rock star style!

Peek-a-boo!

We take our smoothies seriously around here.

Would you buy a used car from this face?

Yeah, YOU!

  

Princess and the Potty

Around the time Eden turned 20 months, she started showing interest in the potty.  It started by her pointing to her diaper right after she had gone potty to tell us that she needed a diaper change.  It then escalated to her actually pointing to her diaper BEFORE going in her diaper and then pointing to the potty and saying "potty".  We were so surprised by this interest and initiative since this is such a different experience than what we had with Judah.  I wasn't sure what to do with this, so I would just take her to the potty when she indicated that she wanted to go, but we didn't do an official potty training. 

We recently noticed that she had become less interested in going on the potty and had reverted back to just going in her diaper.  I realized that her interest in the potty was diminishing, and I knew I needed to decide whether or not I wanted to officially tackle potty training her now (while there was some interest left) or to wait until she is older.  I decided to give it a go.  I know that she has the ability to do it, and she understands so much.  And, the idea of having two out of diapers before baby #3 comes would be sooooooo wonderful.  So, I'm motivated. :)

Well, we have been officially potty training her for about two weeks, and we are starting to see success.  The first week I was doubting whether I should stick with it or not since she is still so young, but I kept at it, and I am so glad that I did.  She now tells us most of the time if she has to go on the potty, although she still does have accidents (which I expect will happen for a while).  It seems that she is now getting the hang of it, and I am hoping that it only gets more and more consistent from here.  I can't believe my just-turned-21-month-old is on her way to being potty trained!

"Mom, look what I did!"

I feel like I need to explain these last couple pictures.  Yes, Eden is wearing boy undies.  These were Judah's first set of underwear (Thomas the Train), which shrunk and are now too small for him.  We started potty training her using these undies before I actually got to the store to buy her some girly ones.  Anyway, she asks for the "choo choo" undies now, so she still gets to wear them. :)  And, yes, Eden is wearing her brother's shoos.  She likes to wear them around the house...what can I say.

Christmas 2012

Okay,  I know I am totally late on this one, but here are some pics of our Christmas 2012.  I was having some trouble uploading pics to my blog, so it put me behind a bit.  We had a great Christmas.  Christmas Eve, we went to our church service, which was a "kid-friendly" one where we sang Christmas songs, and the children were able to participate in a Christmas story that was told.  We were home Christmas morning to open presents and hang out in our jammies, and we went over to my parents house in the afternoon for more presents and a meal.  

Christmas Eve